AN East Lancashire man who abused girls while out walking his dog claimed he was giving them sex education games, a court heard.

Mark Haygarth, 53, of Honey Hole, Blackburn, was jailed for 18 years for 20 historic sex abuse charged dating back to the 1990s.

Ian Fenny, prosecuting, said he was trusted by the children's parents but took advantage of situations that presented themselves.

He ensured as best he could that they would say nothing to their parents but a 13-year-old girl who was raped told her mother in 1998.

Her allegations were hushed up because her grandmother was seriously ill and on the assurance that he would move away from the Croscombe area of Somerset. He ended up in Blackburn.

The court heard the offending ended as his victims approached puberty. At the time, he was "physically dominating and had a large red beard".

Another of his victims made a complaint in 2010 and that generated publicity which led to other victims coming forward.

Haygarth had a golden retriever dog, which he used to bring him closer to the girls, and he was generous to them, buying them gifts and introducing them to tobacco and cannabis which he used to ensure their silence.

One girl was abused from the age of five but did not realise the consequence of what he did.

A girl he abused when she was about nine was told he was giving her sex education games. She said he would be "bossy" if she did not do as he wanted.

Haygarth admitted one offence of rape and 19 charges of indecent assault and indecency with a child, which included several specimen charges. His victims were aged between three and 13.

Kenneth Hand, defending, said Haygarth realised a lengthy prison sentence was inevitable but his guilty plea was very much to his credit because it avoided the five victims – now young women – having to re-live what happened in the witness box.

He regretted what happened and said it was "a period of madness which he has put behind him".

The judge also handed down a Sex Offences Prevention Order banning him from working with children and ordered Haygarth to sign the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely.